harmless
by kcctaiga
Summary: they had taken everything from him, now he was taking revenge
1. suffering

His name was hiccup horrendous haddock the third and he was a failure, always had been, too small, too weak, and too powerless, they thought he was harmless. They would always think this nothing would change their minds, but oddly he was okay with this. It meant he was free to do as he pleased knowing that he would never have any bearing on anyone, they just considered a burden to them anyway. It's just the way things were, it was his place.

Then one night he became more he had met someone, well something, that had seen him, noticed him, and respected him, his friend. But fear has a way of changing people, and tainting the hearts of men, their greed and envy feeds hatred, their vanity demands of them glory no matter the cost and his problems started as is all too often with a girl.

She had followed him, he would say the she betrayed him but for that to be true she would have had to recognize him as a person, and to her he wasn't. She brought men to take them, she had his friend killed to feed her own vainglorious ambition. He saw the look on her face as they executed his best friend, satisfaction, pride, and is that guilt? She felt guilty, no it's a lie he had trusted people before and never again.

But as he thought that nothing could get worse, he forgot the nature of pain, misery loves company. It was a dull bleak morning when he came downstairs in him and his fathers' hut in Berk. He was greeted with the faces of not only his father but also of many of the village's warriors, he knew exactly what came next, exile.

He simply nodded and walked wordlessly out of the hut, when he did he was met with a mob, the friends and family of all those who had been lost in dragon raids over the years. They shouted things at him, to them he was a monster, a demon, and in their eyes he was responsible for every death ever incurred by the dragons all for an act of mercy. The farther he walked into the city the more frenzied the crowd became, they shouted threats and hatred, but he cared not, he deserved it. He had failed, failed to save his only friend from the true monsters, the ones that reside in the hearts of men.

Suddenly something struck his face, he didn't know what hit him but he reached up to feel his face, blood ran from his left eye , maybe his pain would sate them. But he would not defend himself he understood that he was as good as dead and that there would be no one to save him this time, he was already dead his body just didn't know it yet, even if his mind and heart did.

As hiccup boarded the small vessel that would serve as his ferry to exile he remained as stoic as his father's name, he had long since drown out the shouts of hatred and anger and heard nothing. He did hear however something, it was small and pathetic maybe that was why he heard it over the others, he identified with it. He allowed his eyes to drift upward, slowly scanning over the crowd until he found it.

The pathetic noise had come from a blonde haired woman that he had once adored every feature of. Now those gentle features were a beacon to him, a beacon of hatred, of the cruelty of man, and most of all it was a beacon of the future. In that moment he decided that he would not die, that this night would not see the end of him, he would have vengeance for a thousand wrongs done to him by the hand of man, and more so he would have vengeance for a fallen friend.

As he stood on the ship ready to depart the skies began to send the winds into a flurry, howling in the air. The seas lapped viciously at the boat threatening to capsize it before it even made it to open sea, but the chief's word was law and his vessel would be delayed no longer. His father stepped forward silencing the crowd "Hiccup horrendous haddock the third you are no longer welcome on the island of Berk, for your crimes against our people, you have been sentenced to exile, do you have anything to say in your defense"

Hiccup simply remained silent as the storm grew fore furious that it had been denied its bounty for so long, instead he walked over to the only line tying him to everything he knew in this world and wordlessly untied it before taking control the ships sheet lines and venturing out to sea.

As his ship grew a couple hundred meters out from the port all of Berk watched as the wretch of a demon died when his ship was struck by lightning, sending the burning remnants to the bottom of the sea but the son of man is not so easily vanquished.


	2. the way forward

Seven years have come to pass and another son of man has paved the way forward, his training has been relentless, not a waking moment was not spent working towards his goals. He was a master of swordplay, an unparalleled captain and sailor, the men under his command both feared and respected him and he was one of the only people who could claim the title of dragon night, he was ready but it was not time yet, pride comes before the fall as they say.

Yes he wanted it he wanted it more than anything but if there was one thing his mentor had taught him it was patience. it was how he had made his first kill, how he had learned to tame the seas, and it was how he had learned to turn his mind into the most dangerous weapon that a man could wield, nothing was more important at this point than to be patient, so he would wait.

As he continued to train, the sweat began to roll down his body in waves as the water moved across his body, it traced the extensive scars along his body. Each scar held a lesson, they were a reminder of the past, a reminder of a time when he was weak, when he was naive. His scars were his legacy, they symbolized his resolve, his hatred, his potential, and most of all his future.

He heard the clack of boots enter his domain so he turned to see who it was, he immediately dropped to bended knee upon seeing who it was. "Stand Harm, there is a situation that requires your attention" said the man.

"What do you require of me, father" Harm said rising to his feet.

Smiling at his prodigy the man said "one of our allies, the berserkers, have decided that they no longer required our guiding hand and that they would carry out their own plans as opposed to waiting as they were instructed" he said pacing circles around his son to observe him, his muscles were tightening, his shoulder pulled taught, he was angry, good the man smiled to himself "you are to eliminate these traitors, for as valuable as an asset they would have been they are now a liability"

"With pleasure father, I shall teach them that no one crosses Drago Bloodfist" Harm said with elation.

"This day you prove yourself my son, this day you become Harm Bloodfist in both name and right" Drago said to his son "this day is the first day of the rest of your life, my son" Drago said patting his son on the shoulder "now you must away, the time is nigh, dispatch them so we may move forward"

"Yes father, I shall leave immediately" said Harm grabbing his floor length green duster with one sleeve and his broadsword cutlass.

With no small amount of pride he says to his son "I await your return, my son, take one of our ships and a crew, and raze the village to the ground. Leave one alive to tell the tale, teach the world why no one crosses Harm Bloodfist" he says leaving the room.

Harm walks over to his standing display and removes his helmet form the armor stand it is simple steel half a dark crimson and half silver with only one eyehole, that's all he needs. Donning the helmet he makes for the port.

Three days later Harm could finally see the island village of the berserkers on the horizon, he would be there by nightfall. He couldn't help but remember the first time that he had laid eyes upon the city, it was much larger than Berk was and its people the same, all of them hulking Vikings and great warriors, that was four years ago, right after Drago had rescued him from that wretched island.

He hated small islands, all because of his island, the island that he had survived on for three years. He thought so many times that he was going to die on that island, but the island was not a sword, it was a chisel, as opposed to destroying him it had broken away the parts of him that were holding him back, that made him weak, that made him human. He was not human, not anymore, he was more than any human could ever hope to be.

He remembered the first day he got to the island, he was sure that he was already dead and this island was a cruel punishment from the gods. But he was wrong that island had not been a punishment but a gift, he was carried there on the back of a might scauldron, the dragon had saved him, once more proof that dragons may have been beasts but men were the real monsters.

He cursed Odin, Thor and any other god he could think of at the time for abandoning him but he later realized that they had not taken from him but given unto him the power to survive the world of man. So he survived, he refused to die, refused to give up, he couldn't yet surrender he still had a promise to fulfill, his destiny was his vengeance and nothing would stop him, not the island, not the raiders, and not even all of Berk.

As he approached the island he shouted to his crew "ready portside cannons" thin with a violent jerk of the helmsman's wheel he banked his ship hard to the left bringing his right broadside to face the village and then yelled "fire"

The thunderous roar of the cannons could be heard for miles, he loved this ship he had dubbed it "the night's fury" in ode to a fallen friend, it hosted sixty-seven broadside cannons and nine chase cannons on the bow and nine sails between the tops, gallons and royals and an iron side frame. As a man who had been powerless most of his life he appreciated power in ways that others could not, that was why he mandated a ship so unstoppable for his flagship.

As Harm laid waste to the village of the berserkers he felt no remorse, these were his enemies and they needed to be destroyed. Those who kill truly learn the value of a life and Harm knew this value but they had betrayed him and his father, they had brought this upon themselves, their lives had no value.

"Cease fire" harm yelled over the roar of the cannons "Mr. Garret, take the helm".

As his helmsman took the ship's helms harm moved to the bow of the ship and told his crew "helmsman bring us in, gunners ready chase cannons, fire at will" his crew shouted in acknowledgement of its captain's orders and the chase cannons were ablaze with earth shattering blasts as the ship banked to the right and headed straight for the island. "Run her aground" he shouted to garret

"Aye sir" he responds "loose tops, royals and gallons. Full speed, captain's orders" he yells at the crew.

"Brace" harm yells as his crew finds something solid to hold onto.

The night's fury slammed thru the harbor and docks crushing them under its massive iron hull workers still inside. "Men, with me" he yells jumping off the bow of the ship, landing and planting one hand on the ground and drawing his sword midair.

Harm and his men make his way methodically through the streets, slaying all in their path until the stand at the great longhouse in the center of the village. With a massive kick harm sunders the door from its hinges sending it flying across the room and crushing the last few remaining warriors under its weight. The only remaining souls in this village are a large man named Alvin the treacherous, and a blonde girl with an axe.

As harm walks farther into the hall Alvin cowers behind the young warrior girl. Harm smirks under his helmet and says "I never would have taken the chief of the might berserkers to be a coward Alvin"

The girl steps firmly in between the two of them and says "I am Astrid of Berk, and it is my duty as a warrior of my people to stop you"

Harm laughs hysterically at her for a few moments before calming himself, taking a deep breath he says "and why is that princess"

Astrid looks at him quizzically for a moment before saying "the berserkers are our allies"

Harm laughs again "oh that's rich, no they were my allies"

Astrid continues glaring at him "you murdered them, I don't know exactly what your definition of allies is but if that's how you treat your allies I hate to see your enemies"

"You don't know the half of it" he scoffs "regardless, they betrayed me so they had to die"

"They are still our allies" she barks at him

"There's none of them left alive to be your allies" he laughs at her "leave while you can" he says turning into a growl at the end making his men recoil from him, they knew just how dangerous he could be.

She pulls out her axe and begins swing madly at him but her strikes never find her mark, he either simply moves out of the way or deflects with his sword. Eventually he tires of her and as she swings he counters her axe blade sending it sailing through the air before spinning on his heel and kicking her in the stomach as she followed her axe's lead and crashed into a table that broke as the force of her spine hitting it with such force was too much for it to bear.

Astrid winced as harm stepped on her wrist, she looked up to see the blade of his sword "just do it" she says dejectedly.

"Not so fast Astrid of Berk" he smirks "I need you to live, to tell the tale, this is what happens when you cross Harm Bloodfist" he says as he steps off of her wrist and makes his way to Alvin, who is desperately begging for his life. His pleas go unheard and are soon silenced as harm slashes his sword across the man's neck, and his body falls limply to the floor. "Make ready to leave men, were done here" he days turning and leaving the hall and a bruised and shaken Astrid behind..


	3. long nights

Back on the island of Berk, all was not well Snotlout had been made chief almost 2 years ago and he was not faring well he was still brash, impulsive, selfish and naïve but he was the only candidate, he was the old chief's nephew and after hiccup, stoic the vast refused to have another son, he would be the end of his line nor could he hold himself together forever.

Stoic had known great physical pain and even lost his wife in a dragon raid, but the thought that he had sentenced his own son to death and that he had died hating him was too much for the old warrior to bear, he slowly spiraled downward until one day he simply refused to leave his house, no one had seen or heard from stoic the vast in 2 years, not even Gobber.

The village was also feeling the weight of its decision, Gobber had been injured and lost his other hand in a dragon raid almost six months ago, and now the Viking town was without a blacksmith to fight the winged devils. Their greatest warrior was but a shadow of his former self, their chief was a danger to himself and the entire village, and the only one capable of leading them was a young blonde girl that was constantly away on some form of official business or another.

Snotlout had sent Astrid on a diplomatic mission to the village of berserkers to secure allies but that had been a disaster. He had hoped for answers but all he got was more questions, who or what was this harm character, was he a threat or an ally, why and how did the berserkers betray this man, why had he allowed Astrid to live when he had her dead to rights, what did the berserkers being eliminated so easily mean for Berk and where had he heard the name Bloodfist before? All questions, no answers he thought being chief would be easy but there was so much that he didn't know it would entail, and needed a drink.

Snotlout turned to his chief advisor, his old friend Fishlegs and said "Dude, what am I supposed to do"

Fishlegs turned to him and said "we've faced bad situations before, don't worry we'll get through this" trying to cheer his friend up he offers him a mug, Snotlout takes it and the two drink into the early morning, forgetting their troubles, for now at least.

Snotlout however was not the only one to have trouble coping with these new developments. Astrid has had many a sleepless night after all the things she had seen over the last few years, many battles hard fought, many friends lost to pointless conflicts, and many that had died by her hand, so she did not shake easily. But this man, this Harm, he was something else entirely, he was cruel and merciless, powerful beyond measure, and most of all malevolent.

His ship had come from nowhere and laid waste to the entire village of the berserkers in moments, men women and children with impartiality. He had sundered all defenses placed before him as though they never existed, and he had executed Alvin the treacherous in cold blood after he had surrendered then disappeared as quickly as he'd come leaving only death and destruction in his wake, he was a true monster.

For her skill with an axe and prowess as a warrior, she had found herself helpless at his hands, he had not just over powered her, he obviously had the strength to but he had defeated her with finesse. One thing was sure, if Berk was to survive in a world where monsters like this existed, it would need to become stronger. Not just the warriors but the village itself, the buildings sturdier, the crops protected, and the people hidden, they could not defeat this monster but they could at least try to outlast him with that in mind she began to make plans for what the village would need to be to survive this ordeal, if only she had someone who was better with plans than with an axe.

If only she had hiccup, he was tiny and weak but he was brilliant no doubt, beyond crazy with some of his plans but brilliant none the less. She had no doubt that if the people of Berk needed him he would find a way to help them, he might screw up a couple of times, but he wouldn't give up, but no they had killed him, she had killed him.

It was not often found the topic that could the mighty Astrid of Berk to break down but he was it. She had always resented him, he was weak and intelligent, gentle and compassionate, and everything a Viking shouldn't be. He could always find a way to make her smile, even at the cost of his own pain, he tried to help everyone, he didn't judge, didn't mock, and didn't give up.

She always thought him pathetic but she could sure use some of his strength, even an ounce of that weak pathetic failure's hope would carry them through this but no she couldn't keep her mouth shut. Why? Because she was jealous, jealous of his smile, of his heart that lead him through the darkness, of peculiar way of being able to think his way out of any situation, and mostly of the one thing that she had taken from him the day she sentenced him to death, his hope, she could really use that right now.

But Astrid didn't have any of that, so she found her answers elsewhere these days, at the bottom of a bottle to be specific. No she didn't think that hiccup would be happy to see her like this, but she needed this, with each memory she drowned she numbed the weight of her sins just a little bit more. But Astrid was not suffering alone, and she knew this, so this night like many others before it she would go, she would go to the old grotto where hiccup had kept his dragon, the night fury, the one he called toothless and she would leave hiccups dagger on her doorstep.

She left it there so that he would know, know that she needed someone, that he wasn't alone, and that she hadn't forgotten. Leaving the dagger in its sheath she pulled it from her waist satchel and left it and stole into the forest under the cover of darkness, but she was not alone, never alone.


	4. into the night

Astrid made her way to the grotto and waited, she knew that he would be here just a matter of when, she didn't have to wait long. She soon heard rustling in the bushes, she knew who it would be, the only one that understood her, the other one responsible for the death of hiccup, his father stoic the vast. "It's been a while, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me" he says. His voice is tired and rough, it breaks her heart to hear him like this, she always remembered his voice being a booming thunder even when he didn't have to be, now she strained her ears to hear the once proud man's words.

"I'm sorry" she says avoiding eye contact "I got caught up in some things"

He huffs and walks past her his massive shoulders knocking a tree branch out of the way. "No business of mine" he says before asking "so, what's on your mind"

"I had some questions I wanted to ask, but mostly I needed to talk" she says with a sigh.

Stoic moves past her before taking a seat on a large rock, a rock she knew all too well, it was the rock she sat on just before she exposed his secret to everyone he knew and had his best friend murdered before sentencing him to death. Great, he couldn't pick any other spot could he? He patted the rock next to him for her to join him.

Astrid begrudgingly made her way over to the massive man "so what did you want to know" he asks. Astrid sigh as she looks into his deep green eyes, the eyes that reminded her of hiccup, even in death she would never escape that look. the one that he used to give her, the one that used to make her feel alright even when everything was collapsing around them, the one that now only made her feel pain. She sighs again "mind if we just talk first?" she asks hopefully.

He puts one of his great hands on her shoulder, and gives her a smile. That smile, the same one he used to wear, the one that could warm a person's heart, the one she would never see hiccup wear again. Astrid feels tears begin to well up in her eyes but no she refuses to cry, never again she promised herself and she's come so close to breaking it so many times but she has held strong, what's one more night. "Whenever you're ready, I'll be here" he says

And so they wait, she wants to find the right words, but they never come, so instead she cracks, she breaks down crying, she breaks the promise that she made to herself so many years ago and she cries. Stoic throws his enormous brown cloak around her and says "it's all right dear, I know, I know"

In between sobs she breaks out "no" more crying "I, I, I" she can't breathe "hiccup" before being unable to form another full word, but he gets the message.

Stoic takes off his cloak and places it around her shoulders, as he does she looks up at him still sniveling nose and swollen puffy red eyes from her tears. He stands and walks away from her motioning for her to follow. He leads her to a small cave inside of which is a small light, as she draws near she feels the temperature in the cave rise to a sweltering heat, what Is this place she as she enters a chamber in the cave she sees the large man hunched over something on a table on the far end of the room "come closer, I have something I want you to see" he says to her

She moves to stand next to stoic and what he's hunched over astounds her. "I found it four years ago, I think its Odin's way of testing me, he wants to see if I changed" he says motioning to the thing on the counter "so what do you think, have I changed or not"

Astrid for her part is still trying to for words to explain exactly what is going on here. Yes that's stoic the vast, yes that is a dragon, but he's not killing it he's taking care of it, nurturing it? Now she was confused "but I don't" she stumbles over her words "but that's a" he nods at her "but how did you" she is just awestruck "but why?" she shouts.

"Not so loud, you're gonna scare him" he says "shh, it's alright little one, I got ya, papa's here" he says bouncing it up and down in his hands. This did not compute, here was stoic the vast playing nurse maid to a BABY NIGHTFURY, this was wrong on so many levels.

"What is that doing here" she says in a hushed shout.

"It's a he not a that first off" he says matter-of-factly "an he's here because I saved him"

"Saved him, why" she says astonished

"I had to, after I killed the only family he had" he says solemnly

Suddenly a light goes off In her head, the dragon, hiccup's dragon, toothless "well" she says swallowing a lump in her throat and placing one of her dainty hands on his powerful shoulders "I'm sure where ever he is, hiccup appreciates what you're doing for the little guy" coddling the dragon. He looks at her, she had never noticed but he looked so much older than he had all those years ago, before everything spiraled out of control.

Stoic the vast was on the verge of tears, not a common sight for a man of his stature and reputation, but he was "I'm hoping you're right lass, I'm hoping you're right".


	5. the mind of a killer

Harm laid sunbathing on a large rock next to firefly, a deadly nadder that he had grown quite fond of. His father had initially written off the firefly for being the runt of the litter, but harm knew better and begged his father to allow him to tame him. His father saw no harm in allowing his son to tame the beast but soon came to understand that he had underestimated firefly's potential.

He was smaller true but his small size allowed him to be swifter than any other nadder than he had ever seen, the beast was nimble and his fire burned hotter than most. Harm had rambled off some nonsense of why it was hotter, something about same fire in a smaller space, and whatever a compression rate was apparently firefly had an impressive one. The two of them were neigh inseparable never seen one without the other since that day.

There was another member of their group that was always chasing after harm, one that would appear out of nowhere and run off on a moment's notice for no discernable reason. One that was currently sprawled out on firefly's back, an energetic enigma covered in blonde curls and spouting the most random things her name was Camicazi, Cami for short.

Harm had met her during his second year on the island, she never explained about how she came to be there but did say that she was originally of the bog thieves. It was a rare moment to see her so peaceful, splayed out as she was one could tell several things about her. First off she was short, say that to her face and leave with bumps, bruises and maybe a bite-mark or two. The next thing was her eyes, she had vibrant azure pools for iris' that took up most of her eyes. And finally one could see scars, scars of tales that only harm knew, he liked it that she told him no they weren't pretty stories but that she trusted him and no one else with them meant a lot to him.

Drago was hesitant to accept Cami as a member of his hoard but harm was too valuable to of a find to squander over some mop top midget of a girl so he had allowed it, if the boy wished his plaything so be it, so long as he trained his dragons the boy could have whatever he fancied. There were some rather, for lack of a better word racy rumors going about regarding the two of them, which when brought to her attention usually ended in the offending part being beaten with a blunt object. Harm took no such offense to such things, as little as he would tolerate disrespect he found the idea kind of funny really.

True they were together more often than not, but she was special, not the kind of special you take home to mom but the kind that becomes your best friend. The kind that's always by your side and has your back, but romance? No.

As these thoughts plagued harm Cami was plagued by similar thoughts, these rumors about the two of them were starting to get to her, not that she couldn't appreciate the art of making others slightly miserable but because in all honesty she really wished they were true. Yeah she had always distrusted men but harm was different, he was stronger than anyone she had ever known, he had a mischievous streak a mile wide, and he had the courage of a thousand warriors.

Thor she must sound like the stereotypical, love sick puppy of a handmaiden, he didn't see her like that and she knew it. All the women of the village swooned over him shamelessly, and resented her because of how close he was to her. She knew that this was how it would always be their personalities and strength being like ice and fire, his was always leaps and bounds ahead of her with her constantly chasing him.

They had been through so much together, she knew she was brash and impulsive while he could work out a plan in his head in seconds and it would work flawlessly every time. She talked to distract her opponents and he stayed silent to unnerve them. She wore rag tag armor meant to be flashy and intimidating, while his was meant to remain unseen until he chose otherwise. She had survived the island because of him, there were countless perils and she would rush headlong into them while he would figure out a way to actually deal with it.

She could never understand how he remained so calm in dire situations, her mother had always taught her that in a battle you used your anger as a weapon, but he was the best there ever was and he kept his in check as if afraid of what would happen if he cut loose, come to think of it so was she. How strong was he anyway? He was strong no doubt but did he have limits? Everyone else did but he was different, even after years of training he was still making progress, usually by now a normal person would have hit their peak but not him. Again with the hero worship, she seriously had to stop doing that.

She felt firefly stir under her, she looked and saw his head was raised to look at something, curious herself she looked too. Wait, where did harm go? "Great" she sighed, "he ditched me, again" she rolled over onto her stomach and moved into firefly's saddle "alright boy, let's go find him" firefly squawked happily in response before taking to the skies.

Little did she know that harm just wanted some time to himself, as much as he liked his friends company he just needed some space. So he watched in silence as the two of them flew off into the horizon from his hiding spot just a few meters from where they had lay a few minutes ago. He started walking through the forest which soon turned into a run then with a powerful push he launched himself into the tree tops and began to jump from branch to branch. Why? He blamed too much free time as a kid.

He arrived on the edge of a large chasm, there was something down there, Drago had once told him so. At the time he was so awestruck by the great fissure called the everfalls that he hadn't even noticed, but now was different. He could hear its breath, he could sense its presence and feel its heartbeat, whatever it was it was massive and powerful. He so often wondered about what lost creature could not only survive but resided in such a place.

He often came here to think, hoping that in some way that whatever was at the bottom of the everfalls would give him some of the wisdom that it must have from such a long life but this was fallacy. If there was one thing that he had learned from life it was that he would have to learn this on his own the old fashion way, through pain, he would have to face these things on his own.


	6. the guard captian

Harm stood on the edge of the chasm waiting, some days he hoped that he would just wake up in his bed, not the life he had now but his old life. Before his exile, before the storm, before the island, before his world shattered into a million pieces. But then there were days like this, the days where he was glad for his new life, a simple life with people who accepted him, who would fight by his side and stay with him unto death, something no one in Berk had even considered.

Harm stood and walked away from the chasm, he wondered if the creature had somehow heard his request and bequeathed him some of its wisdom, the wisdom to not lament over that what was lost and to enjoy what one had. He silently thanked the beast for perspective on life and made for the village.

Upon his arrival he was greeted by Merci, the guard captain, she was always on his case about something but she always had his best interest at heart so she was one of the few people who he let harp on him, she was kind of like the mother he never had. "And where have you been?" she accused as he strode through the gate.

He let off his signature crooked smile and said "oh, ya know, just kind of wandering" he said hopefully.

No dice "oh really" she said skeptically "and you wouldn't happen to have wandered to the everfalls" she said raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

He let out a kind of dry half chuckle, busted "I may have wandered by it at some point"

"Really" she deadpanned giving him her classic, are you kidding me look.

He let out a sigh, he knew the jig was up "I just needed to think" he said in defeat

"So the best place to think is right next to a giant hole in the ground that holds and ancient and powerful monster?" she asks.

"It just kind of puts things in perspective ya know" he asks

She lets out a deep sigh as her expression softens "harm I know you've got a lot on your mind and rightly so but you need to think about those around you, you have people that care about you like Cami and me" she said putting a hand on his shoulder and looking into his eyes "we worry about you, we know you don't need protection but we still worry"

Harm looked away from her, great now he felt like an ass "I know, and I shouldn't have taken off like that but sometimes, I just need my space it's not a big deal, I can take care of myself.

She pinched the bridge of her nose her red hair falling over face as she tilted her head forward saying "you may be strong, but you're still young and I don't want to see anything happen to you because you decided it was a good time to be reckless"

He looked at his boots as if they were suddenly more interesting than anything he had ever seen "I'm sorry okay can we just drop this for now"

She looked at him and sighed "alright, but don't expect Kami to be as forgiving as me" she said with a smirk.

Great, he totally forgot about her, she was gonna be pissed. With a sigh he continued on his way hoping to not have to explain but he would have no such luck this day


	7. lost

As harm neared the door to his house he suddenly found himself flat on his back, he winced as he hit the ground. When he opened his eyes he was looking up at a mess of blonde curls, with a sigh he looked up to find Cami sitting on his chest with her knees pinning his shoulders to the ground. "you ditched me" she said accusingly.

"yeah, so not like you have to be with me all the time, sometimes I need time by myself" he replied looking up at her.

She crinkled her nose and furrowed her brow looking down at him "you. Ditched me." She said again.

"Yes, yes I did now mind getting off my chest?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Why should I" she said turning her nose up and crossing her arms over her chest

Okay, if she was going to be like that then he was going to play dirty "because despite the mobility advantage, your armor had one flaw" he said smirking

"Oh yeah" she asked mockingly "and what is that"

With a straight face he deadpanned "from down here I can see up your skirt"

She looked down at him quizzically as took her a second to process this but once she did her reaction was worth the wait. She jumped backward, falling off of him into an ungraceful mound of flustered teenager and curly hair. "You jerk" she yelled at him as he rolled on the ground laughing so hard that he couldn't breathe.

"You asked for it" he gasped through labored fits of hysterics

"Are you sure your harm and not Loki" she asked still miffed at him.

Getting up and dusting himself off he walked up leaning down to her level saying "aww, don't be like that" ruffling her hair.

She always loved it when he did that, it made her feel like a little girl again. She of course would never say this and instead pretended to be angry every time but he seemed to see through it and gave her a knowing smile as she complained and swatted his hands away.

Firefly came flying down form the clouds and began licking harm furiously as he landed. "Yeah, I get it you, you missed me" said harm pushing the dragon off of him.

As he moved away from firefly and towards his door Cami was right on his heels and followed him straight inside and plopped down on his couch. This wasn't abnormal, hell she spent a good majority of her night on his couch always claiming that she was too tired to walk home but he always thought it was because she didn't like to be alone, Harm didn't know the half of it.

_Flashback_

_ The storm outside raged on as though to wipe the small island off the map, the hollowed out tree she was using as shelter shook violently from the gale force winds. Suddenly there was the crack of thunder, her little hovel, the only place in the world she could call her own was sundered in two leaving falling debris crashing down around her._

_ She was trapped under a huge chunk of tree, it was crushing her. She had no escape she was going to die on that godforsaken island. But then came the unlikeliest of people, a scrawny little stick of a boy. He was no more than ten and not an ounce of muscle on him but somehow he found it in him to lift the massive tree trunk off of her, adrenalin is really something._

_ He grabbed her and dragged her from under it while holding it up on his back, the fact that it didn't crush him was unfathomable, but now here he was this shrimp of a kid saving her, trained since birth to be a monarch. What had the world come to, then as they sat in the pouring rain she thought about him, this was the first person she'd seen in _

_ She had thanked him but other than that they hadn't said two words to each other finally she looked over at him "I'm Camicazi, but people call me Cami"._

_ He looked at her with a sad smile "I don't have a name, not anymore" he said in a dead voice._

_End flashback _

As the fire crackled on the fireplace Cami fell into sleeps comforting embrace, knowing that the man who saved her was close at hand.


	8. early mornings

Harm didn't sleep well, never did since he was young, probably something to do with the fact that dragon raids in Berk always happened at night. As he stayed up most night he had a lot of time to himself, usually he'd send this tie training, or enhancing his equipment but you can only go over every inch of armor so many times before it stops being meticulous and subverts to melancholy. Tonight was one of those nights, nothing would sate his mind and it wandered aimlessly, he thought of all the things that life had taken from him.

First was his mother, he never knew much about her and the things he did remember were fuzzy at best but he would always remember one thing her smile. He remembered, or at least thought he did, that she had the warmest smile that would brighten up a room the second she entered. But she had been taken from him in a dragon age when he was just a babe, it never hurt him much. His father was a different, from what he understood his father was a completely different man when his mother was still alive.

The next thing he thought of was his innocence while he was a Viking even the mightiest of Vikings were born into this world small and helpless like the rest of them. What was different about Vikings was that they never got to be children, from the time they could walk they were trapped in an endless circle of violence. Because the ancestors were too proud or stubborn or maybe just stupid to move everyone he had known as a child had been hardened in the flames of war against the dragons, truly lamentable creatures Vikings were.

This led him to the next thing Berk had taken from him, his only friend. The people of Berk always saw and treated him as a burden and inevitably the children mimicked their parents and grew a hatred of him for no reason. But then he met toothless, he was the first one ever to look past his meek exterior and see him for who he was. They spent every available moment together laughing and goofing off with the not a care in the world, but that had been ruined.

The one person he had been dumb enough to fall in love with in his stupid and childish bout of lovesickness had been the one to destroy his entire world. That was another thing that he had lost, hope one person can only be stepped on so many times before they just don't care anymore and Astrid Hofferson had been the final one to place a boot upon his soul.

He had lost his father long before he even began to know him or who he was, but after Astrid he had lost one thing that just broke him, his home. To be granted the house was never much of a home to begin with, but that didn't make it any easier to be tossed away like unwanted refuse. As much as he and his father never saw eye to eye that house had been all he had ever known and he was cast out without so much as a second thought.

But for as much as had been taken from him he was grateful for the boons granted, as he drifted away from Berk in the storm he had no longer cared if he lived or died and wound up on a Thor forsaken island on the back of a dragon. Perhaps the dragon had saved him because it could still feel the warmth of dragon fire about him, maybe it felt pity for him not wholly unlikely as dragons have kinder hearts than men.

He wondered at first if the gods were simply content to make him suffer because he had communion with dragons and thought death to easy a punishment. That thought was not by any means a passing query, true enough he still wondered that to this day on occasion. But while at first it had consumed him when he thought of it now he soon found the notion ridiculous, look at all that he now had. When he was in Berk he was looked at with disdain without reason, here he commanded reverence everyone knew his name and respected him for his skills and his reputation.

But despite all this he could never shake the pain of his hatred that like so many before him had poisoned his soul and it made him different from those around him. He was feared by those who opposed his master make no mistake he was a weapon and he knew it, he understood that Drago had saved him not out of pity or charity but because he knew the boy he rescued from that island would give him power. While he knew that he was Drago's weapon he also knew that he had a life of his own, and Drago would allow him to pursue his personal goals.

But in the wee hours of the morning he finally succumbed to sleep and silently thanked the gods that had made his life so hard that allowed him to come to where he was now.

**[authors note: I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for taking your time to read this, I'm having a lot of fun writing this story and to apologize to those that have been leaving reviews that I haven't been able to reply to but I've been so swamped with work recently and I just want you to know that I appreciate all of you and I'm sorry that I do read every review I receive and it means a lot that you would take time out of your day to write to me and thank you for your support and encouragement]**


	9. convictions

Harm was never a morning person, mostly due to his lack of sleeping but today was unusual, he was up before the sun. These days were rare but not unheard of and more so… feared. On mornings like these Harm was known to be temperamental, very few people knew why but they all knew if he was seen before mid-day that it was best to leave the young warrior be.

One such person who knew these thing was Merci she was the one person that Harm could talk to, even when he didn't want to, he knew talking helped. As he roamed the streets people made sure to stay well clear of him as he proceeded towards Drago's compound. His father had a mission for him and when it came to his father he always aimed to please, he would not fail him as long as he drew breath.

Merci was waiting outside the compound and greeted him, his response was an unfriendly huff in her direction. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow "wanna talk about it?" she asked

"No, I just want to complete my mission" he snapped back at her

"You know that it'll help" she offered

"I know but right now I just don't care" he replied shortly "if I've got a mission I'll have plenty of chances to take out my anger"

"Well, I'll be here if you change your mind, remember hatred is like poison if you keep it to yourself it will only hurt you" she sighs

"Don't worry" he smirks, "I plan on spreading my hatred all over this mission"

"HARM" she snaps

"Maybe later, for now I've got a mission" he says as he enters Drago's chamber.

Inside the chamber was poorly lit as always, just a few dull candles that adorned the walls inside sat Drago meditating on the floor. Harm bowed as Drago stood and turned to face him "raise your head my son"

Harm did as he was told, and looked to his father "you wished to see me father" he says

Drago begins pacing circles around Harm who remains statuesque as Drago replies "yes, the time is upon us my son tonight we go to war" he said pausing to observe Harm's response. Nothing, the boy had the patience of a monk and his body showed no response, inside however he was a hurricane of anticipation. Drago, satisfied with his response continues, "You have served me well but now your final test is upon you. The time is nigh bring me the axe of my oldest foe, stoic the vast"

Harm remained silent, afraid his voice would betray the ears of conviction before he bowed to Drago and turned to leave. Drago had no knowledge of his past, only that he had been exiled, had a deep hatred of Berk and was born of the dragon's kinship, the unique ability to command dragons. He would never know that he had just sent him to kill someone that he had once held dear, Harm was a hardened warrior but nothing ever prepares you to kill someone who had once meant the world to you.

Outside of Drago's sanctum merci stood, still waiting to give Harm an earful for blowing her off earlier. As he exited she could feel that something was different, and all of her anger fell from her immediately and she grabbed him by the shoulder. "Harm, what happened?" she asked a mixture of concern and horror in her voice, she had never seen anything phase him in such a way.

"I got my mission" he says devoid of emotion trying to hide the slight crack in his voice, but nothing escaped her notice when it came to him. For as few people knew him those that did could tell from even the slightest change, a slight inflection in his voice that for most people would have been insignificant meant that he was in turmoil internally.

"Harm" she said pausing "whatever this is it's causing you pain, pain far beyond what any one person should have to bear alone. I want to help you but I can't do that if you shut me out" she pleaded with him.

"It doesn't matter" he said coldly "I have my orders, now I need to go prepare for my coming battle. Leave me be, I know you care but don't, it will only get you hurt" he said before taking off at a dead sprint before running up a cart and with a powerful jump landing on the roof a building, and like that he was gone.

Harm knew he needed to prepare for his mission but right now his gear and crew could wait, he had to clear his mind so he went to the one place he could do that, the Everfalls. The jungle between the encampment and the Everfalls was harsh and unforgiving of even a single misstep or poor shift of weight but these trees were more family than he had ever had in Berk.

As he neared the everfalls, he saw a woman, she was young and by the way she carried herself prideful. She was beautiful and slender, had he not known better he would not have thought someone of her like as human. She sat on the ground next to the chasm, not moving or speaking just sitting.

He knew everyone from the encampment and she was not of them so drawing his blade he jumped from the trees, read for a fight. But despite his aggression the fight never came, to be honest he was a little disappointed. The woman did not flinch or even move, she sat statuesquely as she had failed to notice the man with a sword behind her.

Harm approached cautiously with blade still in hand until he could reach out and touch her but still she did not move "OI" he shouted at her

She slowly turned her head to look at him "can I help you" she asked politely.


	10. understanding

Harm was not put off by her politeness "who are you" he barked leveling his blade at her

"My name?" she muses playfully "why, I can't remember it's been so long since I've told it to someone that I must have forgotten it.'' She says

A confused harm takes a step backwards dumbfounded before glaring at her "name" he growled at her "now"

She puts her hand to her chin thinking "one second" she says it'll come to me" as he stood blade at the ready "AH, that's right" she says as if to herself "Valka, that was it, sorry it's been a long time since I've talked to another actual person" she replies with a smile.

"What are you doing in my woods" he asked with an edge to his tone.

"Yours?" She asked "and just how do the woods belong to you" she snips back at him crossing her arms over her chest.

"Answer the question" he growls tensing every muscle in his body as he refuses to let his glare relent.

She turns waving her arm towards the chasm "I was just drawn to his place" she says looking into the abyss.

"Well, outsider" he say venomously "this place is off limits to everyone"

"Oh yeah then why are you here" she mocks

"I ask the question's" he growls, "now leave while you still can"

"Oh" she smirks, "and what are you going to do about it"

Harm charges at her with a primordial scream as he does he is slammed from his side by something, something really big and angry. He rolls with it and is thrown several feet through the air and ragdolls across the ground. As he regains his bearings he sees a dragon across from him, none the like of which he has seen before. He takes step to his side and the dragon mimics his action keeping itself firmly between harm and Valka.

He puts his fingers too hiss lips and lets out a screeching whistle, the dragon cringes slightly but is overall un-phased. Harm takes a step forward and raises his sword, the dragon lowers its head and growls at him as he does. As he does a ball of fire screams down from the sky and broadsides the dragons sending it rolling sideways across the ground.

The dragon scrambles to its feet looking around frantically for the source before spikes began to rain from above lodging themselves into the ground around the dragon. An earsplitting screech pierced the air as firefly plummets downward and lands beside harm while baring its fangs at the other dragon preparing its magnesium fire in its throat.

Then the woman stands up and walks over to the edge of the chasm gaining the attention of all the others who seem to forget their previously held anger and become enthralled with her action. She bows slightly before walking over to her dragon and taking to the skies without a word.

Harm could have chased her but honestly, what was the point. Contented with his solitude he took a seat at the edge of the chasm, but for the life of him could not remember why he had come here in the first place. Regardless he felt relaxed at the quiet solace, he had always loved this place it just felt so alive. Whenever he came here he felt as though the ground could give way under his feet and some monstrous creature might spring from the ground, something from an era long dead that he was still convinced lived at the bottom of the chasm.

Enjoying the silence he rolled onto his side and felt the warm steam that always seeped from the Everfalls heat the air around him. He stayed like this until he fell asleep.

**[authors note: sorry that this took longer than usual but if its not one thing its another and i had to go to a funeral today so I've been feeling drained all week. also a special thank you to reviewer Tiffy, glad to know you like it and understand the conflict inside the character like i tried to portray it despite my terrible grammar an kind of transparent ideas. thank you for reading everyone and i hope you like it. **

**R.I.P. Nikki Hale 1943-2014.**


	11. within the storm

Things in Berk were going to shit really quickly and, as far as Snotlout was concerned it was all Astrid's fault that a psychopath had shown up and slaughtered the berserker tribe while she was there. He constantly belittled her efforts whenever she tried anything saying that she would just fuck it up, like she did in the berserker village. He never missed a chance to sneer at her or blame her whenever anything went wrong, it had been like this for years ever since hiccup had been exiled everyone needed a new scape goat.

Astrid was used to such thing by now but she wondered how hiccup could have put up with this for his entire life, hell she was at her wits end and he had done it ever since he was a child. It was amazing that he had not swung an axe at someone, or taken a dagger to his wrist, how did he deal with it. He must have been strong beyond reason to be able to put up with this even a child, to have endured such pain. Perhaps that's why he always looked so feeble and downtrodden, he had the weight of the entire village's contempt weighing down on his shoulders.

As she trudged through the streets in the pouring rain a chill ran down her spine. The gale force winds had kept the dragons out of the skies this night for a much needed reprieve for the denizens of Berk but they still needed someone for the night watch and right now Astrid was on the short list. All was quiet through the streets of Berk and honestly, she preferred the chaos and havoc that the dragons wrought. At least during an attack she had something to keep her mind busy unlike tonight, she kept flashing back to the boy in the forest, he was so frail but even then he had thrown himself between her and the dreaded night furry to protect her and what had she done? Thrown him to the wolves of a cruel and unforgiving society.

The scene played through her mind over and over again, each time revealing a little more detail than the last. With each rendition she hated herself more and more, he had protected her then tried to reason with her but pride and anger had made her run and divulge his secret without hesitation. Thor, she had been such an idiot, why was she so consumed with herself as a child, it made no sense. Now she devoted herself to protecting and helping the citizens of Berk but how was she worthy of that title when she couldn't even save one boy.

As small tear rolled down her cheeks, the only way she could discern it from the pouring rain was the small warmth and the pain that something so small held. She shook these thoughts from her head as she heard the all too familiar sound of beating wings in the distance, a sound that could only have one origin. "DRAGONS" she shouted.

**[authors note: shorted this week but more introspective, hope you enjoy it]**


	12. last minuet arrangements

As harm laid by the everfalls sleeping he found himself in a sort of a daze, time seemed to blur as he thought of Berk. He had once lived there but the place had never been what he would call a "home", no a home was a place where you were safe and welcomed but Berk had never served that role. His father had been decent enough, if a bit cold, but that wasn't enough. Fathers are kind, fathers protect you, fathers care about you. So long as he had remained quiet his father was happy, evidence enough of this was the fact that he had often stolen into the wood at daybreak and returned only when he had to work the forge or sleep. For Odin's sake, he had sometimes simply left for days at a time and his father's only concern was that the forge had been overrun with damaged swords and axes.

When harm realized that he also realized he had taken the first step towards hating Berk. It had always been a house but lacked the qualities of a home, he had never known his mother but from what he understood she had been killed in a dragon attack trying to protect him. His father never said it but harm could feel the resentment his father held for him over his mother's death, he always blamed harm for it.

Harm sighed away these thoughts as he heard the clink of metal armor in the distance, he knew that sound. It was the sound of a man who called himself Sir Artorian, he came from a land far across the sea to the east. He called himself a knight, apparently a title of some renown in his homeland who had once served in the service of a proud king.

Sir Artorian had an unusual armor the likes of which harm had never seen, he called it chain mail. It was made of small interlinked metal rings that made it more akin to cloth than proper armor, and large plate metal armor that covered his chest and shoulders with massive steel boots. He had a broad strait sword that most men would wield with both hands in his left hand and a large metal shield that he called the tower shield.

"Harm, it's time to depart" he said in a gruff voice. All business as usual.

"You're to be accompanying me then?" harm asked indifferently.

"Drago's orders" he replies before turning and going back the way he came.

He used to be so much fun when harm was younger, but as time went on and harm became more seasoned on the battlefield Sir Artorian saw him less as a child and more of a man, and while he appreciated the respect that didn't mean that he had to be professional all the time. Harm didn't need coddling but it would be nice to have a friend that didn't see him only as a fellow warrior. But such was life within dragon's reach one was a warrior first and foremost and Artorian took this farther than anyone.

Regardless, harm made for the port with firefly in tow. Upon arrival he was greeted by Gwyn, an old man that served as the harbor master. He passed him with a small nod of his head without saying a word and made for his ship. Firefly made his way below deck and nestled himself in a corner, he hated it below deck but it set the crew at ease as most of them were of Viking descent and thus naturally weary of dragons. Sir Artorian boarded the vessel and began inspecting the crew and the ships armaments to busy himself before they set sail. Camicazi barged through the crowd in the harbor and pushed past several guardsmen to force her way onto the ship.

"What the hell dude, you were just going to leave and not saying anything" she shouts at harm

"What insolence is this?" barked Sir Artorian at her

"Stuff it you old wind bag I wasn't talking to you" she shouted back.

"How dare you" he scoffs at him.

"Shut it" harm yells over them "both of you" he says glancing from one to the other. "Cami it was an unexpected development alright, Sir Artorian back to your work"

The knight looks down "as you command Capitan" before heading back to his work

"Fine, but I'm coming with" she says

"No" he replies immediately

"WHY NOT" she complains.

"Because I said so and that's that" he said

She sighs in frustration, "whatever" she says dejectedly

"Now get off the ship, were about to make way" he says

Making her way off the boat she turns "hurry back, okay" she pleads.

As the gangplank falls from the side of the now moving boat he says "I make no promises". And with a wave he's off. As they made way he shouted to his crew "alright men, bring me that horizon" they responded with a cheer as the sails opened catching the wind


	13. recollection

Last night's dragon raid had been horrible, they lost five more to the dragons and most of their herd. She was in for some much deserved rest after the night she had, luckily the rain had stopped most of the would be fire damage but that hadn't stopped those damned beast from trying. It had been a tying night but little did she know that it would only get worse when the sun rose.

Just before daybreak harm's ship neared the southern end of the isle of Berk, and laid anchor in an outcropping in the rocks. Once they did, firefly comes up from the pit of the ship and happily chirps to be out in the open air again. Harm dove into the water and began to swim for the shore.

"Capitan, what are your orders" called Sir Artorian after him once he reached the shore.

"Wait here, if I don't return before daybreak tomorrow consider me lost and return to dragon's reach, sir Artorian you are in command while I'm away" he shouted in return

"Understood Capitan" he replies.

Harm walks into the jungle alone even leaving firefly on the beach. Silently moving through the jungle he made his way towards his old haunt, a clearing in the jungle that sunk into a cliff side with a river running through the center. Only one other person knew about this spot and she had no reason to ever return.

He made for the cave he had spent many a night in with his best friend, knowing that no one would be there. As he entered the cave he noticed that nothing had changed, but upon closer inspection he realized that someone had indeed been their recently. How did he know? The fire had been used recently, as in within the last few hours and something new was present. It was small and quiet but out of the peripheral vision he saw it scamper into a dark corner. Harm turned to investigate and moved closer to the presence, it was agile and dark but he knew that shape, he'd know it anywhere.

Here in his old cave was a night fury, of all the lost creatures that could have possibly been here it was a night fury. He was baffled by the thought, how was this possible no one before him had ever seen one up close, but to care for it? Someone from Berk of all places? This makes no sense what in Thor's name was going on here. He had to get out now, if someone else was staying in his hovel then it wasn't safe. Anger welled in his chest, even in death he could not find solace, apparently no respect for the dead.

To be fair why would they respect his death? They never respected him in life so death should be no different but the idea that nothing was sacred anymore just infuriated him again. He however had no time to dwell on such things, the caves new resident may return at any moment and he could not be here when they did so he opted for making a break from the cavern and quickly climbing up the side of cliff face. He was curious and while he could not directly talk to the cave's new owner he had to wait for nightfall anyway so he decided he would wait and observe the new denizen of the cave.

Hours passed with no sign of movement save for the night fury pup occasionally making its way outside to play by the stream. With nightfall soon approaching harm continued to watch but was quickly becoming bored with the idea but still mildly curious when he heard rustling in the distance, someone was coming. Moving slightly forward out of the brush to see better he sees a large hooded figure enter the clearing and begin moving towards the cave.

As the figure enters the cave harm begins to inch closer until he is just at the edge of the clearing, his instinct tells him to leave but his body moves of its own accord and kept moving forward. Silently creeping forward he makes his way inside the cave to get a better view.

When he heard "aw who's a good boy" in a deep gruff voice from within the cave. He silently peeked around the corner to get a better view and what he saw he found… shocking to say the least. Here in his hovel playing with a baby night furry was stoic the vast, a mighty slayer of dragons and men alike as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Harm's mind was reeling from this, his fractured psyche must be playing tricks on him or some form of nostalgia over his sentimental attachment to this place had driven him mad. When he couldn't take it anymore and felt himself slipping he ran, far and fast not caring where he ended up.

**[authors note: sorry it took so long to get this up but not really had a lot of time to write lately]**


End file.
